How do I vet a link building agency before signing?

Vetting takes about two weeks and one small purchase. That is considerably cheaper than discovering in month four that you have been buying inventory.

Stage 1 — What they publish, before you make contact

Free, and it filters the list fast. Check whether they publish a rate or a minimum, what link types they name, and whether they describe a process or only outcomes. Four of the twelve agencies we document publish a figure — see the comparison table.

If a minimum is published and it is above your budget, you have saved a call. That alone is worth the ten minutes.

Stage 2 — The call

Run the eleven standard questions in order. Take notes on whether answers contain numbers, names and documents, rather than on how assured they sounded.

Two answers to weight heavily: the proportion of placements involving payment to the publisher, and what happens when a link dies.

Stage 3 — Audit five real placements

This is the stage that catches most problems, and almost nobody does it.

Ask for five links placed in the last 60 days for a client in a comparable category. Then check each host site yourself:

• Does it have real organic traffic? Not Domain Rating — traffic. DR is easy to inflate and says nothing about whether anyone reads the site.
• Does it publish things other than guest posts? A site whose recent output is entirely outside contributions is selling placements, whatever it calls them.
• How many outbound links per article? A page linking to eight unrelated commercial sites is a placement farm.
• Would you have been pleased to be featured there if links did not exist? A useful gut check.
• Is the link still live? Check all five. If any are already gone within 60 days, ask about the replacement policy immediately.

Stage 4 — Contract review

Seven clauses decide what you actually get: term and exit, ownership on termination, replacement policy, written quality criteria, disclosure of paid placements, reporting specification, and the make-good if a campaign lands nothing. Each is covered in the contract checklist.

Stage 5 — Buy small first

One month, five links, no term commitment if you can get it. At market rates that is roughly $2,500–$6,000 depending on type — real money, and much less than a wasted quarter.

Then audit those five placements the same way you audited theirs. If they hold up, sign the longer term with some confidence. If they do not, you have learned it for the price of one month rather than one contract.

Two of the agencies we document operate without a minimum contract, which makes this approach straightforward. Work out what a trial should cost at your volume with the cost calculator.

Questions